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'''Stephen Michael Cohen''' (b. 23 February 1948)<ref name="KMcCarthy38">{{cite book|ref=harv|chapterurl=http://waterstones.com./wat/images/special/pdf/9781905204663.pdf|format=]|chapter=Stephen Michael Cohen|title=Sex.Com|first=Kieren|last=McCarthy|publisher=Quercus|year=2007|date=2007-05-03|isbn=9781905204663|page=38}} &mdash; via Waterstones</ref> is an ] criminal who fraudulently acquired control of the ] ] in 1995.<ref name="Pankaj">E-Commerce By Pankaj, APH Publishing, 1 Jan 2010, and ]</ref><ref name="blue">{{cite web|author=Violet Blue, Special to SF Gate |url=http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2006/12/21/violetblue.DTL |title=Sex.com: A URL - All Crime And No Sex |publisher=SFGate |date=2006-12-21 |accessdate=2012-07-11}}</ref> He was later implicated in involvement in running the controversial ] service ].<ref>{{dead link|date=July 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|author=Sponsored by |url=http://www.economist.com/node/2301336 |title=Online music: Sex, lies and Earth Station 5 |publisher=The Economist |date= |accessdate=2012-07-12}}</ref> '''Stephen Michael Cohen''' (b. 23 February 1948)<ref name="KMcCarthy38">{{cite book|ref=harv|chapterurl=http://waterstones.com./wat/images/special/pdf/9781905204663.pdf|format=]|chapter=Stephen Michael Cohen|title=Sex.Com|first=Kieren|last=McCarthy|publisher=Quercus|year=2007|date=2007-05-03|isbn=9781905204663|page=38}} &mdash; via Waterstones</ref> is an ] who was convicted of ] and ] after fraudulently acquiring control of the ] ] in 1995.<ref name="Pankaj">E-Commerce By Pankaj, APH Publishing, 1 Jan 2010, and ]</ref><ref name="blue">{{cite web|author=Violet Blue, Special to SF Gate |url=http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2006/12/21/violetblue.DTL |title=Sex.com: A URL - All Crime And No Sex |publisher=SFGate |date=2006-12-21 |accessdate=2012-07-11}}</ref> He was later implicated in involvement in running the controversial ] service ].<ref>{{dead link|date=July 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|author=Sponsored by |url=http://www.economist.com/node/2301336 |title=Online music: Sex, lies and Earth Station 5 |publisher=The Economist |date= |accessdate=2012-07-12}}</ref>


==Early life == ==Early life ==

Revision as of 19:37, 13 July 2012

This article needs to be updated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. (August 2011)
For other persons with a similar name, see Stephen Cohen.
Stephen M. Cohen’s Sex.com business card

Stephen Michael Cohen (b. 23 February 1948) is an American who was convicted of grand theft and check-kiting after fraudulently acquiring control of the domain name Sex.com in 1995. He was later implicated in involvement in running the controversial peer-to-peer service EarthStation 5.

Early life

Cohen was born in Los Angeles and attended Van Nuys High School in the Van Nuys area of Los Angeles.

Sex.com

Cohen fraudulently obtained the lucrative Internet domain name Sex.com in May 1995 from the original registrant, Gary Kremen, who had registered it in May 1994. Cohen obtained the domain by means of a forged letter to domain registrar Network Solutions, faxed from Kremen's company "Online Classified", fraudulently stating that Kremen had been dismissed and the firm was abandoning the domain and that Cohen could have it. Network Solutions blindly accepted the fax with no verification and transferred the domain to Cohen, an action that would prove grounds for a later civil suit by Kremen against Network Solutions. It is estimated that Cohen illegally earned US$100 million between October 1995 and November 2000 from his ownership of sex.com.

In April 2001, the court ordered damages of $65 million be paid to Kremen. Cohen then fled to Tijuana, Mexico where he was arrested on October 28, 2005. On that same day, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of California filed federal civil contempt charges in San Diego, California against Cohen for violation of a court order under 18 U.S.C. §401. As of 2005 the amount of damages owed to Kremen had increased to $82 million with interest.

Cohen was released from custody on December 5, 2006, by Judge Ware because Kremen's lawyers had been unable to uncover Cohen's offshore bank accounts.

Other enterprises

In the 1980s, he operated a paid-membership bulletin board system (BBS) called the French Connection, geared toward swinging and other sexual topics, and by the late 1980s, he organized swinger get-togethers at a home in Orange County, California. In 1990, he was arrested for operating a sex club in a residential zone. He relocated the enterprise and charges were dropped.

Convictions

In 1975, Cohen was convicted of grand theft and check-kiting.

In 1991, he was convicted in a bankruptcy fraud scheme in which he forged documents and assumed other identities. He was sentenced to 46 months in federal prison, and was released on February 1, 1995.

References

  1. ^ McCarthy, Kieren (2007-05-03). "Stephen Michael Cohen". Sex.Com. Quercus. p. 38. ISBN 9781905204663. {{cite book}}: |format= requires |url= (help); External link in |chapterurl= (help); Invalid |ref=harv (help); Unknown parameter |chapterurl= ignored (|chapter-url= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: date and year (link) — via Waterstones
  2. ^ E-Commerce By Pankaj, APH Publishing, 1 Jan 2010, pp.75-77 and 197-198]
  3. ^ Violet Blue, Special to SF Gate (2006-12-21). "Sex.com: A URL - All Crime And No Sex". SFGate. Retrieved 2012-07-11.
  5. Sponsored by. "Online music: Sex, lies and Earth Station 5". The Economist. Retrieved 2012-07-12.
  6. ^ Jenny Booth and Roland Watson Updated 46 minutes ago (2012-03-13). "The Times | UK News, World News and Opinion". Entertainment.timesonline.co.uk. Retrieved 2012-07-11.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  7. Kremen v. Network Solutions, Inc. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. James Ware, District Judge, Presiding. Argued August 13, 2002. Submitted July 25, 2003—San Francisco, California. Filed July 25, 2003. Before: Alex Kozinski and M. Margaret McKeown, Circuit Judges, and James M. Fitzgerald, District Judge. Opinion by Judge Kozinski.
  8. ^ "Sex.com thief faces justice after hiding out in Mexico for four years". News.findlaw.com. 2005-11-04. Retrieved 2012-07-11.
  9. U.S. v. Cohen, Case # 3:05MJ01732, Judge Leo S. Papas (S.D. Cal. (San Diego), Oct. 28, 2005)
  10. "Sex.com thief released from prison". The Register. 2006-12-09. Retrieved 2012-07-11.
  11. ^ Craig Bicknell. "The Sordid Saga of Sex.com". Wired.com. Retrieved 2012-07-11.
  12. McCarthy, Kieren (2007-05-03). "Stephen Michael Cohen". Sex.Com. Quercus. p. 40. ISBN 9781905204663. {{cite book}}: |format= requires |url= (help); External link in |chapterurl= (help); Invalid |ref=harv (help); Unknown parameter |chapterurl= ignored (|chapter-url= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: date and year (link) — via Waterstones

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